Oil Story

[Pat in Speedway]

Last night while out doing some Christmas shopping at Wal*Mart, I found my way to the oil aisle to peruse the selection...because you all know, that's what we do! A couple of women came strolling down with their cart discussing having to get "winter oil", per someone else's instructions. After a few minutes, one walked over to me & asked for help. I immediately went into BITOG mode and asked questions as to what kind of car ('86 Park Avenue), mileage (no clue), etc. I told her she'd be best to go with a 5w30, and considering the car (she thought) had over 100K miles, I told her she'd do OK with MaxLife 5w30. I tried to explain to her about why 5w30 was better to have in the car during the winter & she looked at me like I was trying to teach her Yiddish.
I tried to figure out how often she changed her oil & she again had no clue..."Just whenever!" was the response I got. I had been ready to tell her if she goes with a 3K interval, the the cheapo SuperTech would work fine for her. But after I reasoned to myself she had no clue when to change her oil, I pulled Motorcraft 5w30 off the shelf and told her this is the best bang for her buck....and made the mistake of trying to explain synthetic blend to her. So she loaded 5 quarts of it in her cart & was getting ready to leave the aisle when I asked her if she had a filter. "Oh, do I need one?"

So I got on the little selector and got her a Super Tech filter. Fortunately there was only one engine listed for an '86 Park Avenue...as she had no clue what was in the car.
So I guess I did my little part to make the world of oil knowledge a little brighter. Or not. Hopefully I represented BITOG well with my choices for her. I just hope in 5, 10, or 15 years when she does her next oil change, she finds another BITOG member in the aisle....for her Buick's sake!

 

[T-Keith]

Good job. 5w30 is the recomended grade for her car and the filter is a ST3387. I wonder how's she's going to change it if she knows so little?

-T

 

[Pat in Speedway]

quote:

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Originally posted by T-Keith:
Good job. 5w30 is the recomended grade for her car and the filter is a ST3387. I wonder how's she's going to change it if she knows so little?

-T

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I think a "he" was going to change it, as I heard her say "He said to get winter oil". Wonder if he meant that new QS stuff.

 

[haley10]

Very noble of you. If it happened to me I would have directed the lady down the street to a very good Lube Center I know.

They would do a very low cost oil change with quality oil and filter. The main thing is, they would inspect and advise on all the other neglected stuff; especially the anti-freeze this time of year and especially with an 86.

 

[pbm]

Being that the car is almost 19 years old with over 100k she must be doing something right!

 

[Pat in Speedway]

quote:

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Originally posted by haley10:
Very noble of you. If it happened to me I would have directed the lady down the street to a very good Lube Center I know.

They would do a very low cost oil change with quality oil and filter. The main thing is, they would inspect and advise on all the other neglected stuff; especially the anti-freeze this time of year and especially with an 86.

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She should take it to a place like that. When I was looking for her filter, she told me how her car was "losing gas". I HAD to ask "Burning or leaking it?"

It apparently burns a lot and "a friend" told her to buy some gas treatment. So she showed me her cure in a bottle. I told her it might help some, but the cure was likely more than just that, as I mentioned tire inflation, air & fuel filters, spark plugs, etc.

 

[vvk]

Interestingly, when this happened to me last time I also recommended Motorcraft. Must be good oil

 

[Cutehumor]

so that's why my woman didn't bring my WINTER OIL!

Seriously though, whoever told her to get winter oil is hella lazy. I wouldn't tell a woman with no clue to pickup oil for me. I've seen this in walmart isles before. a woman in the oil aisle looks confused at all the selections so she gets the cheapest supertech based on price. I've seen one pull out the cell phone to call her husband to ask which oil to get. Never send a woman to get oil.

 

[Gary Allan]

This happens to me more often than not at WallyWorld. Same scene ..at least somewhat..woman is at WM and is asked to pickup some oil for the car. They don't have a clue and the person sending them obviously doesn't either or they would have specified the oil. I don't go too far into explanations ..just ask a couple of questions. If they're still undecided ...I point to the Supertech for under a buck and say ..this is excellent oil for anyone's needs. It's right next to the MC which I also point to and say the same.

For this type of oil user ...Wallmart doesn't have a bad oil on the shelf. Only customers that may not know what to do with it.

 

[brianl703]

quote:

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Originally posted by Gary Allan:
For this type of oil user ...Wallmart doesn't have a bad oil on the shelf.

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They do have non-detergent oil and some "SF grade" oil which are both 10 cents cheaper than Supertech. But fortunately, these don't get much shelf space at all.

 

[MAJA]

quote:

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I immediately went into BITOG mode

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I find myself doing that alot lately. Whenever I fill up, I go into the store, hit the BITOG mode, and find myself checking out the oil selections, and usually walk out with a gallon of oil. And to think, before I used to walk out with a DR PEPPER and a bag of hot/spicy peanuts or a bag of pork skins! BITOG is helping me lose weight!!

 

[Brikhead]

Sounds like you performed a noble deed for the automotive ignorant....good 4U!!

 

[TallPaul]

Good Job Pat in Speedway! And excellent oil choice (both Maxlife and Motorcraft).

 

[Matt89]

quote:

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I immediately went into BITOG mode

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[T-Keith]

quote:

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Originally posted by pbm:
Being that the car is almost 19 years old with over 100k she must be doing something right!

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Not really with the 3.8. This perticular year requires a timing chain replacement at somepoint, but other then that you'd have to pour sand in the engine to kill it before 100,000 miles.

 

[Don Stevens]

I assume there was no lube/tire shop in that Walmart. If it were the Walmart near us I would have said "Just pull it in there. They will give you the right stuff".

You know what is ironic? She probabaly got home and her slack *** husband yelled at her for getting Motorcraft oil. "Motorcraft is for Fords" the bum yelled.

Don